01 January 5, 2014, John 15-16

John 15-16

January 5, 2014

First Baptist Church

Jackson, Mississippi

USA

John 12 – 13

• John 12: Jesus’ Last Public Sermon

– V. 50 “…So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to

say.”

• John 13 – 14: Upper Room Discourse

– Jesus washes His disciples’ feet

– Jesus predicts His betrayal

– Jesus predicts Peter’s denial

– Jesus comforts His disciples

– Jesus the way to the Father

– Jesus promises the Holy Spirit

Jesus & Disciples Go For A Walk

John 15-16

• Finished the Passover Meal (Last Supper)

• Leave Jerusalem and go down to the Kidron Valley and up the slope of

the Mount of Olives

• Heading to Garden of Gethsemane

• Pass through the vineyards that surround the city

Map of Jerusalem

Kidron Valley

John 15-16

• John 15:1-17 The Vine and the Branches

• John 15:18-16:4 The World Hates the Disciples

• John 16:5 – 16 The Work of the Holy Spirit

• John 16:17 – 33 The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

Jesus’ “I AM” sayings in John

• “the bread of life” John 6:35

• “the light of the world” John 8:12; 9:5

• “the door of the sheep” John 10:7, 9

• “the good shepherd” John 10:11, 14

• “the resurrection and the life” John 11:25

• “the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6

• “the true vine” John 15:1 (Today’s Lesson)

Illustration of Tending a Vineyard

Pruning a Vineyard

Reasons for Pruning Vines

• 1. All dead wood must be removed

– Harbors insects and disease and causes vine to rot

– Unproductive and unsightly

• 2. The live wood must be cut back drastically

– Trimmed back to allow growth to go into fruit

Unpruned Vineyard

Pruned Vineyard

Fruit of Vineyard

Scripture Focus

John 15:1-17 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in

me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it

will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have

spoken to you. 4 Remain (Abide) in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can

bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless

you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will

bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me,

you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are

picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words

remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my

Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If

you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my

Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy

may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love

each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down

one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I

no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s

business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my

Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you

and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and

so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my

command: Love each other.

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine…” John 15:1

• Old Testament imagery – the nation of Israel was God’s vine

• God planted and tended it (Israel the vine).

• God expected Israel (His vine) to bear fruit to all nations. Be an example.

• Jesus was saying, “I am the true Israel (vine) of God.”

Vine Border on Temple

Israel as God’s Vine

Isaiah 5:7 7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty

is the nation of Israel,

and the people of Judah

are the vines he delighted in.

And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;

for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

Jeremiah 2:21 21 I had planted you like a choice vine

of sound and reliable stock.

How then did you turn against me

into a corrupt, wild vine?

Israel as God’s Transplanted Vine

Psalms 80:8 -11 8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,

its shoots as far as the River.

Prophecy of Jesus as God’s Vine

Psalms 80: 14 -17 14 Return to us, God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!

Watch over this vine, 15 the root your right hand has planted,

the son you have raised up for yourself.

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;

at your rebuke your people perish. 17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

John 15:1 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener”

• The Father owns the vineyard and is responsible for its care, its nurture and

ultimately its productivity.

• Other translations = husbandman, vinedresser

• Christ was the vine because He was the fulfillment of Israel.

• Jesus distinguishes between His role and the role of His Father.

Saved to Be Fruitful

John 15:2 2 “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that

does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

• The purpose of the vine is to bear fruit from the branches (us):

1. Fruit of The Spirit

2. Praise

3. Serving Others

4. Righteous Living

5. Converts

Fruit of The Spirit

Romans 7:4 4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ,

that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order

that we might bear fruit for God.

Galatians 5:22-23a 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, 22a gentleness and self-control.

Fruit of PRAISE

Hebrews 13:15-16 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—

the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and

to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Psalms 71:14 14 As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.

Fruit of SERVING OTHERS

Galatians 5:13-14 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your

freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the

entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as

yourself.

Colossians 3:23-24 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for

human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the

Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Fruit of RIGHTEOUS LIVING

Galatians 5:24-25 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and

desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

1 John 2:5-6 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This

is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus

did.

Fruit of CONVERTS

Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has

been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and

teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with

you always, to the very end of the age.”

God The Father Is The Gardener

John 15:2 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does

bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

• Branches with no fruit – cut off

• Branches with fruit – pruned to produce more

• Why?

God Prunes Us

• Our Heavenly Father must cleanse (prune) us so we will bear more fruit.

• God will do whatever is necessary to produce His kind of fruit.

• With precision He cuts out the resentments, bitterness, anger, selfishness,

arrogance, etc.

• If it is not Christ-likeness, He will snip it out.

• This is the process of “Sanctification”.

How Does The Father Prune Us?

• Circumstances and situations in our lives

– Adversity

– Suffering

• Scriptures

• Holy Spirit

– Conviction

– Guidance

• Fellow Christians

Divine Discipline

Hebrews 12:5b-11 5b “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when

he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he

chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what

children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and

everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and

daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and

we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and

live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for

our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at

the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and

peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:5b-11

The Issue Is Christ-likeness, Not Salvation

John 15:3-4 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in

me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in

the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

• The emphasis is on bearing fruit, not salvation.

• Jesus is speaking of our position in Him as a component of the vine –

branches bearing fruit

REMAIN (ABIDE) IN ME

John 15:5 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain (abide) in me and I in you,

you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

• Abide = ‘to remain in union, maintaining a living communion, to maintain

unbroken fellowship with another.’

• John uses ‘abide’(remain) 11 times in John 15

How Do We Abide (Remain) in Jesus?

• Worship

• Prayer

• Scripture

• Sacrifice – time and money

• Service

• Loving others

• Obedience

Importance of Scripture in ‘Abiding’

John 15:7 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it

will be done for you.

• Memorization of scripture

– Jesus speaks to us through scripture

– The Word is at home in you

– Satan will tempt and you can rebuff

• Satan tempted Jesus by quoting scripture

Why Is Scripture So Effective?

1. The words of Jesus are the words of God.

John 3:34 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the

Spirit without limit.

Why Is Scripture So Effective?

2. The words of Jesus are life-giving.

John 6:63 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to

you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

Why Is Scripture So Effective?

3. It Conquerors the Devil

Psalms 119:9-11 9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your

word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Scripture Memorization

• 100 BIBLE VERSES EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW by Robert J. Morgan

• Don’t get hung up on the translation.

• Take your time to meditate on the verse.

• Write it down.

• It will be the verse you needed for that day!

• It gets easier every time you start the book over.

• You will forget, but it is stored.

Reading Through The Bible Yearly

• THE DAILY BIBLE in Chronological Order, 365 Daily Readings by F. LaGard

Smith

• Harvest House Publishers, 1984

• Devotional and interpretive insights for the daily reading

• NIV Translation

• Chronological

Richness of Life by Abiding in Christ

John 15

• Bear fruit that will last

• Your joy may be complete

• You are my friend

• Willing to sacrifice for others

• Answered prayer

• You will love others